Reality, pervading everywhere!
Like a supplicant who seeks the favour of a benefactor
begging him, in a manner free of all reproach,
to show compassion and grant his petition
[I apply to You]. Hear my plea! O Transcendent Supreme!
Listen to the petition of one
whose heart is of wood and show pity.
[My plea is] to dwell in mauna
in the fullness of your ethereal grace,
the state of sahaja nishta.
... Well indeed does your divine mind know
how my heart melted in tender love,
how I languished,
hoping that I might clearly apprehend this state.
If I try to abide in this state for a while,
then my ignorance, a foe posing as a friend,
comes and makes my mind its home.
Shall defiling maya and karma return again?
Shall births, in unbroken succession, assault me?
These thoughts fill my mind.
Lend me the sword of true steadfastness [sraddha],
give me the strength of true jnana
so that my bondage is abolished;
guard me, and grant me your grace!
Consummate perfection of bliss,
whose abundant fullness reigns,
without exception, everywhere I look!
~ Thayumanavar, Paripurnanandam, verse 5.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Joy, joy!
one of Amma's swans todayA song very frequently sung by Sri Bhagavan's Mother, Alagammal:
How did the Self that ever is
Awareness-bliss,
How did It till now behave
As if It had forgotten this?
Wonder of wonders, beyond understanding
Is your strange fear,
My Swan, my dear,
Your fear of me!
Mind learning, knowing and forgetting,
Body begotten, begetting and then dying,
Whence these impurities in Purity?
Bigness, smallness, class, rank, sight and seer —
Why these darkling waves in the full deep sea of bliss?
No need for speech or vow of silence;
No coming or going; no beginning, end or middle.
Nor light nor sound; no quality.
No separateness and hence no fear.
Oh wonder of wonders, the things that seem
In a dream!
In and out, high and low, and all the ten directions
Lost in light illimitably vast,
Unbroken, unsupported, full and calm,
Pure Awareness, Bliss immutable,
The once-remote, long-longed-for goal
Now here, joy, joy!
only the pure radiance of love will remain
Q: All I want is to be free.
Sri Nisargadatta: You must know two things: What are you to be free from and what keeps you bound.
Q: Why do you want to annihilate the universe?
Sri Nisargadatta: I am not concerned with the universe. Let it be or not be. It is enough if I know myself.
Q: If you are beyond the world, then you are of no use to the world.
Sri Nisargadatta: Pity the self that is, not the world that is not! Engrossed in a dream you have forgotten your true self.
Q: Without the world there is no place for love.
Sri Nisargadatta: Quite so. All these attributes; being, consciousness, love and beauty are reflections of the real in the world. No real -- no reflection.
Q: The world is full of desirable things and people. How can I imagine it non-existent?
Sri Nisargadatta: Leave the desirable to those who desire. Change the current of your desire from taking to giving. The passion for giving, for sharing, will naturally wash the idea of an external world out of your mind, and of giving as well. Only the pure radiance of love will remain, beyond giving and receiving.
Q: In love there must be duality, the lover and the beloved.
Sri Nisargadatta: In love there is not the one even, how can there be two? Love is the refusal to separate, to make distinctions. Before you can think of unity, you must first create duality. When you truly love, you do not say: 'I love you'; where there is mentation, there is duality.
~ Sri Nisargadatta, I Am That
Sri Nisargadatta: You must know two things: What are you to be free from and what keeps you bound.
Q: Why do you want to annihilate the universe?
Sri Nisargadatta: I am not concerned with the universe. Let it be or not be. It is enough if I know myself.
Q: If you are beyond the world, then you are of no use to the world.
Sri Nisargadatta: Pity the self that is, not the world that is not! Engrossed in a dream you have forgotten your true self.
Q: Without the world there is no place for love.
Sri Nisargadatta: Quite so. All these attributes; being, consciousness, love and beauty are reflections of the real in the world. No real -- no reflection.
Q: The world is full of desirable things and people. How can I imagine it non-existent?
Sri Nisargadatta: Leave the desirable to those who desire. Change the current of your desire from taking to giving. The passion for giving, for sharing, will naturally wash the idea of an external world out of your mind, and of giving as well. Only the pure radiance of love will remain, beyond giving and receiving.
Q: In love there must be duality, the lover and the beloved.
Sri Nisargadatta: In love there is not the one even, how can there be two? Love is the refusal to separate, to make distinctions. Before you can think of unity, you must first create duality. When you truly love, you do not say: 'I love you'; where there is mentation, there is duality.
~ Sri Nisargadatta, I Am That
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
over to you, Beloved
There are no actions that can be clasified as 'mine'. It is only proper to say all actions are Yours alone. I have made over to you my body, possessions and soul. It is for you to remove the impurities that abound in my mind and bestow your grace in whatever way you think fit!
~ Thayumanavar
Monday, June 4, 2007
Thy wonderful grace
Bearing and tending me in the world in the shape of my father and mother
Thou didst enter my heart
and before I fell into the deep sea called Mahamaya and was drowned,
Thou didst draw me to Thee and keep me at They Feet.
How shall I describe Thy wonderful Grace, O Arunachala who art Consciousness Itself?
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Arunachala Navamanimalai
for the whole Arunachala Navamanimalai, see http://bhagavan-ramana.org/necklet.html
Behave as if you were fully convinced that you are not the body
Q: You were told by your Guru that you are the Supreme and you trusted him and acted on it. What gave you this trust?
Sri Nisargadatta: Say, I was just reasonable. It would have been foolish to distrust him. What interest could he possibly have in misleading me?
Q: You told a questioner that we are the same, that we are equals. I cannot believe it. Since I do not believe it, of what use is your statement to me?
Sri Nisargadatta: Your disbelief does not matter. My words are true and they will do their work. This is the beauty of noble company (satsang).
Q: Just sitting near you can it be considered spiritual practice?
Sri Nisargadatta: Of course. The river of life is flowing. Some of its water is here, but so much of it has already reached its goal. You know only the present. I see much further into the past and future, into what you are and what you can be. I cannot but see you as myself. It is in the very nature of love to see no difference.
Q: How can I come to see myself as you see me?
Sri Nisargadatta: It is enough if you do not imagine yourself to be the body. It is the 'I-am-the-body' idea that is so calamitous. It blinds you completely to your real nature. Even for a moment do not think that you are the body. Give yourself no name, no shape. In the darkness and the silence reality is found.
Q: Must not I think with some conviction that I am not the body? Where am I to find such conviction?
Sri Nisargadatta: Behave as if you were fully convinced and the confidence will come. What is the use of mere words? A formula, a mental pattern will not help you. But unselfish action, free from all concern with the body and its interests will carry you into the very heart of Reality.
Q: Where am I to get the courage to act without conviction?
Sri Nisargadatta: Love will give you the courage. When you meet somebody wholly admirable, love-worthy, sublime, your love and admiration will give you the urge to act nobly.
Q: Not everybody knows to admire the admirable. Most of the people are totally insensitive.
Sri Nisargadatta: Life will make them appreciate. The very weight of accumulated experience will give them eyes to see. When you meet a worthy man, you will love and trust him and follow his advice. This is the role of the realised people -- to set an example of perfection for others to admire and love. Beauty of life and character is a tremendous contribution to the common good.
Q: Must we not suffer to grow?
Sri Nisargadatta: It is enough to know that there is suffering, that the world suffers. By themselves neither pleasure nor pain enlighten. Only understanding does. Once you have grasped the truth that the world is full of suffering, that to be born is a calamity, you will find the urge and the energy to go beyond it. Pleasure puts you to sleep and pain wakes you up. If you do not want to suffer, don't go to sleep. You cannot know yourself through bliss alone, for bliss is your very nature. You must face the opposite, what you are not, to find enlightenment.
~ Sri Nisargadatta, I Am That
Sri Nisargadatta: Say, I was just reasonable. It would have been foolish to distrust him. What interest could he possibly have in misleading me?
Q: You told a questioner that we are the same, that we are equals. I cannot believe it. Since I do not believe it, of what use is your statement to me?
Sri Nisargadatta: Your disbelief does not matter. My words are true and they will do their work. This is the beauty of noble company (satsang).
Q: Just sitting near you can it be considered spiritual practice?
Sri Nisargadatta: Of course. The river of life is flowing. Some of its water is here, but so much of it has already reached its goal. You know only the present. I see much further into the past and future, into what you are and what you can be. I cannot but see you as myself. It is in the very nature of love to see no difference.
Q: How can I come to see myself as you see me?
Sri Nisargadatta: It is enough if you do not imagine yourself to be the body. It is the 'I-am-the-body' idea that is so calamitous. It blinds you completely to your real nature. Even for a moment do not think that you are the body. Give yourself no name, no shape. In the darkness and the silence reality is found.
Q: Must not I think with some conviction that I am not the body? Where am I to find such conviction?
Sri Nisargadatta: Behave as if you were fully convinced and the confidence will come. What is the use of mere words? A formula, a mental pattern will not help you. But unselfish action, free from all concern with the body and its interests will carry you into the very heart of Reality.
Q: Where am I to get the courage to act without conviction?
Sri Nisargadatta: Love will give you the courage. When you meet somebody wholly admirable, love-worthy, sublime, your love and admiration will give you the urge to act nobly.
Q: Not everybody knows to admire the admirable. Most of the people are totally insensitive.
Sri Nisargadatta: Life will make them appreciate. The very weight of accumulated experience will give them eyes to see. When you meet a worthy man, you will love and trust him and follow his advice. This is the role of the realised people -- to set an example of perfection for others to admire and love. Beauty of life and character is a tremendous contribution to the common good.
Q: Must we not suffer to grow?
Sri Nisargadatta: It is enough to know that there is suffering, that the world suffers. By themselves neither pleasure nor pain enlighten. Only understanding does. Once you have grasped the truth that the world is full of suffering, that to be born is a calamity, you will find the urge and the energy to go beyond it. Pleasure puts you to sleep and pain wakes you up. If you do not want to suffer, don't go to sleep. You cannot know yourself through bliss alone, for bliss is your very nature. You must face the opposite, what you are not, to find enlightenment.
~ Sri Nisargadatta, I Am That
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Bhagavan Padam
Primal Lord!
Lord who is the beautiful radiance that shines
as 'I-I' within the Heart of devotees!
Lord who is the Self, beyond the reach
of the mind's objective knowledge!
Lord who possesses justice rooted in grace!
Lord who stands, his feet firmly planted
in the Self-abidance of his followers!
Lord who remains as that which is [after all else is discarded]!
Noble Ramana whose play is to hold me in his loving embrace!
~ Sri Ramana Anubhuti
As often as you become aware of vasanas rising, ask: to whom do they come?
Annamalai Swami: Initially, abidance in the Self may not be firm and irreversible. Vigilance may be needed to maintain it.
There is a verse in Kaivalya Navaneeta that Bhagavan often quoted. It speaks of the need for vigilance even after the Self has been experienced for the first time. In this verse the disciple is speaking to his Guru:
'Lord, you are the reality remaining as my inmost Self, ruling me during all my countless incarnations! Glory to you who have put on an external form to instruct me. I do not see how I can repay your grace for having liberated me. Glory! Glory to your holy feet!'
The Guru replies:
'To stay fixed in the Self without the three kinds of obstacles [ignorance, uncertainty and wrong knowledge] obstructing your experience, is the highest return you can render me.'
The Guru knows that without vigilance, an initial experience of the Self may slip away.
Q: Why is this experience not enough?
Annamalai Swami: If vasanas are still there, they will rise up again and the experience will be lost. While they are there, there is always the possibility that we may again take the unreal to be real.
If we take the mirage to be real water, that is ignorance. Similarly, if we take the unreal body to be the Self, that is also ignorance. As soon as ignorance comes, you must question it. 'To whom does this ignorance come?' A strong determination to pursue enquiry in this way will dissolve all doubts. By questioning 'Who am I?' and by constantly meditating, one comes to the clarity of being.
As long as vasanas continue to exist they will rise and cover the reality, obscuring awareness of it. As often as you become aware of them, question, 'To whom do they come?' This continuous enquiry will establish you in your own Self and you will have no further problems. When you know that the snake of the mind never existed, when you know that the rope of reality is all that exists, doubts and fears will not trouble you again.
~ Annamalai Swami, Final Talks, edited by David Godman
for some more of Kaivalya Navaneeta, see http://bhagavan-ramana.org/kaivalyanavaneeta.html
Saturday, June 2, 2007
attention liberates
Q: How can we overcome the duality of the doer and the done?
Sri Nisargadatta: Contemplate life as infinite, undivided, ever present, ever active, until you realise yourself as one with it. It is not even very difficult, for you will be returning only to your own natural condition.
Once you realise that all comes from within, that the world in which you live has not been projected onto you but by you, your fear comes to an end. Without this realisation you identify yourself with the externals, like the body, mind, society, nation, humanity, even God or the Absolute. But these are all escapes from fear. It is only when you fully accept your responsibility for the little world in which you live and watch the process of its creation, preservation and destruction, that you may be free from your imaginary bondage.
Q: Why should I imagine myself so wretched?
M: You do it by habit only. Change your ways of feeling and thinking, take stock of them and examine them closely. You are in bondage by inadvertence. Attention liberates. You are taking so many things for granted. Begin to question. The most obvious things are the most doubtful. Ask yourself such questions as: "Was I really born?' 'Am I really so-and-so?" 'How do I know that I exist? 'Who are my parents?" 'Have they created me, or have I created them?' 'Must I believe all I am told about myself?' "Who am I, anyhow?'. You have put so much energy into building a prison for yourself. Now spend as much on demolishing it. In fact, demolition is easy, for the false dissolves when it is discovered. All hangs on the idea 'I am'. Examine it very thoroughly. It lies at the root of every trouble. It is a sort of skin that separates you from the reality. The real is both within and without the skin, but the skin itself is not real. This 'I am' idea was not born with you. You could have lived very well without it. It came later due to your self-identification with the body. It created an illusion of separation where there was none. It made you a stranger in your own world and made the world alien and inimical. Without the sense of 'I am' life goes on. There are moments when we are without the sense of 'I am'. at peace and happy. With the return of the 'I am' trouble starts.
Q: How is one to be free from the 'I'-sense?
M: You must deal with the 'I'-sense if you want to be free of it. Watch it in operation and at peace, how it starts and when it ceases, what it wants and how it gets it, till you see clearly and understand fully. After all, all the Yogas, whatever their source and character, have only one aim: to save you from the calamity of separate existence, of being a meaningless dot in a vast and beautiful picture.
You suffer because you have alienated yourself from reality and now you seek an escape from this alienation. You cannot escape from your own obsessions. You can only cease nursing them.
It is because the "I am' is false that it wants to continue. Reality need not continue -- knowing itself indestructible, it is indifferent to the destruction of forms and expressions. To strengthen, and stabilise the 'I am' we do all sorts of things -- all in vain, for the 'I am' is being rebuilt from moment to moment. It is unceasing work and the only radical solution is to dissolve the separative sense of 'I am such-and-such person' once and for good. Being remains, but not self-being.
~ Sri Nisargadatta, I Am That
Sri Nisargadatta: Contemplate life as infinite, undivided, ever present, ever active, until you realise yourself as one with it. It is not even very difficult, for you will be returning only to your own natural condition.
Once you realise that all comes from within, that the world in which you live has not been projected onto you but by you, your fear comes to an end. Without this realisation you identify yourself with the externals, like the body, mind, society, nation, humanity, even God or the Absolute. But these are all escapes from fear. It is only when you fully accept your responsibility for the little world in which you live and watch the process of its creation, preservation and destruction, that you may be free from your imaginary bondage.
Q: Why should I imagine myself so wretched?
M: You do it by habit only. Change your ways of feeling and thinking, take stock of them and examine them closely. You are in bondage by inadvertence. Attention liberates. You are taking so many things for granted. Begin to question. The most obvious things are the most doubtful. Ask yourself such questions as: "Was I really born?' 'Am I really so-and-so?" 'How do I know that I exist? 'Who are my parents?" 'Have they created me, or have I created them?' 'Must I believe all I am told about myself?' "Who am I, anyhow?'. You have put so much energy into building a prison for yourself. Now spend as much on demolishing it. In fact, demolition is easy, for the false dissolves when it is discovered. All hangs on the idea 'I am'. Examine it very thoroughly. It lies at the root of every trouble. It is a sort of skin that separates you from the reality. The real is both within and without the skin, but the skin itself is not real. This 'I am' idea was not born with you. You could have lived very well without it. It came later due to your self-identification with the body. It created an illusion of separation where there was none. It made you a stranger in your own world and made the world alien and inimical. Without the sense of 'I am' life goes on. There are moments when we are without the sense of 'I am'. at peace and happy. With the return of the 'I am' trouble starts.
Q: How is one to be free from the 'I'-sense?
M: You must deal with the 'I'-sense if you want to be free of it. Watch it in operation and at peace, how it starts and when it ceases, what it wants and how it gets it, till you see clearly and understand fully. After all, all the Yogas, whatever their source and character, have only one aim: to save you from the calamity of separate existence, of being a meaningless dot in a vast and beautiful picture.
You suffer because you have alienated yourself from reality and now you seek an escape from this alienation. You cannot escape from your own obsessions. You can only cease nursing them.
It is because the "I am' is false that it wants to continue. Reality need not continue -- knowing itself indestructible, it is indifferent to the destruction of forms and expressions. To strengthen, and stabilise the 'I am' we do all sorts of things -- all in vain, for the 'I am' is being rebuilt from moment to moment. It is unceasing work and the only radical solution is to dissolve the separative sense of 'I am such-and-such person' once and for good. Being remains, but not self-being.
~ Sri Nisargadatta, I Am That
Life of life, deep within the heart
Enlightenment can never come
Unless the heart explores with care
The essence of the teaching,
The unceasing That thou art,
Uttered by the eloquent glance
Of the guru, Siva manifest,
Dwelling in the devotee's heart.
The Self-God's chosen method
For the incessant teaching
Of the pupil perfectly mature
Is the unbroken, natural awareness
Of "I, I", the Life of life
Deep within the heart.
~ Guru Vachaka Kovai by Sri Muruganar, translation by Prof. K. Swaminathan
Unless the heart explores with care
The essence of the teaching,
The unceasing That thou art,
Uttered by the eloquent glance
Of the guru, Siva manifest,
Dwelling in the devotee's heart.
The Self-God's chosen method
For the incessant teaching
Of the pupil perfectly mature
Is the unbroken, natural awareness
Of "I, I", the Life of life
Deep within the heart.
~ Guru Vachaka Kovai by Sri Muruganar, translation by Prof. K. Swaminathan
Don't differentiate between work and meditation
Sri Bhagavan often said, 'While doing the work, don't have the idea, 'I am doing the work'. If you can keep up this attitude, work will not be a burden, and no problems will touch you.'
Don't differentiate between work and meditation. If you don't differentiate, every job you do becomes meditation. And don't make distinctions between different kinds of work. Don't think, 'This is good work. This is bad work.' If you treat all work equally, any work you do will be your sadhana.'
~ Annamalai Swami, Final Talks
Don't differentiate between work and meditation. If you don't differentiate, every job you do becomes meditation. And don't make distinctions between different kinds of work. Don't think, 'This is good work. This is bad work.' If you treat all work equally, any work you do will be your sadhana.'
~ Annamalai Swami, Final Talks
Friday, June 1, 2007
Full saturated
Part of Ram Tirtha's daily prayer:
Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord to Thee.
Take my heart and let it be
Full saturated, Love, with Thee.
Take my eyes and let them be
Intoxicated, God, with Thee.
Take my hands and let them be
Engaged in seeing Truth for Thee.
~~~
Let me be so “full saturated” with Sri Bhagavan that I lose the capacity to float on the surface of His teaching and instead sink into the Heart that He is, never to bob up again. Bring on the deepest saturation, Beloved Lord!
Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord to Thee.
Take my heart and let it be
Full saturated, Love, with Thee.
Take my eyes and let them be
Intoxicated, God, with Thee.
Take my hands and let them be
Engaged in seeing Truth for Thee.
~~~
Let me be so “full saturated” with Sri Bhagavan that I lose the capacity to float on the surface of His teaching and instead sink into the Heart that He is, never to bob up again. Bring on the deepest saturation, Beloved Lord!
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